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Kettle and Stony Point band CEO says idea was discussed earlier this year

A barrier between Ipperwash Beach and the boundary of the former Ipperwash Provincial Park was removed Friday by members of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, igniting tension between the band and the local municipality, and attracting OPP. Chief Tom Bressette said the band is exercising jurisdiction over the historical trail by removing the barrier. (LINDA HILLMAN-RAPLEY, QMI Agency)

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The controversial dismantling of barricades barring traffic at Ipperwash Beach wasn't completely out of the blue, says the CEO of the First Nations band that is responsible for the action.

Lorraine George, also first nation manager with the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, said band chief Tom Bressette repeatedly — at meetings earlier this year with Lambton Shores officials and others — said the band planned “at some point in time” to take down the barricades.

“There really wasn't much reaction,” George said.

That changed when the provincial government-erected barriers, put up more than 40 years ago without consulting first nations, the band says, came down Friday.

The barriers' removal has sparked the ire of some cottagers who say their leveling ignores property rights and endangers beachgoers and the environment.

At least one cottager has erected a makeshift barrier of his own to the water's edge to block traffic.

“Perhaps some of the reactions are a little stronger than we anticipated, but people need to wrap their mind around change in their own way,” said George Tuesday, noting the first nation “did everything properly and respectfully.”

The move allows vehicles to travel along the beach — an “historical trail” linking the band's two communities, George said.

Notification was given the day before, she said.

When asked about environmental concerns, George pointed to a beach management strategy introduced at neighbouring West Ipperwash Beach earlier this year, designed to, in part, bar recreational vehicles and tractors that were negatively impacting the sand and water.

Talks about expanding that to the newly-unbarricaded beach area are ongoing, but there are no firm plans, she said.

“The safety concern is not a concern in my mind,” George added. “Our beach and the West Ipperwash Beach has remained open to vehicular traffic and it's never been an issue.”

Talks have also included pitches to help operate government-run parking lots and build a cultural centre to help espouse the band's history, she said.

They're geared towards increasing tourism in the area and creating economic opportunities — something the barricades hindered, she said.

Removing them, a legally sound move, George said, was also an important healing step for the First Nation.

Kettle and Stony Point is waiting for the transfer of the former Ipperwash Provincial Park where native protestor Dudley George was killed by an OPP officer in 1995 after natives occupied the park.

“It's something that's needed for healing, for the connection between the two communities, and something that's very important to us,” Lorraine George said.

Meanwhile, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton said a meeting has been set between the band, Lambton Shores, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and a representative from his office for Friday.

Elected officials, including Lambton Shores Mayor Bill Weber, have called for calm and time to sort through details.